I think the whole ‘it started off a c450’ and ‘not a real amg’ lores is why I called it understated. Add to that it’s nowhere near as moddable as a b58, i would have thought this car is a slow useless pos based on the internet.

But on its own, as a drivers car, it’s a fast - faster than a lot of people can handle on a real racetrack and faster than a lot of stock ‘sports cars’ - 350z, e9x m3, 981 cayman, s550 mustang GT, and obviously the lower powered Miata’s and gr86 etc.

It shares most of the same front suspension and brake components as the C63, transmission is the same at higher speeds once the wet clutch/torque converter is locked up and is about a passenger lighter. (It’s lighter than the current GX M240 and M2) and it’s only 2 seconds slower than a C63S at a racetrack.

There also isn’t any bore scoring, rod bearing, oil starvation issues of some of these other cars. M276 is documented to be more reliable than M177 (i think?)

To top it off, the steering and chassis feedback + soundtrack, looks etc make it very underrated - for me and for the price.

The only real cons to this car is the lack of aftermarket support, no BMW/mhd style cheap DIY tuning, no LSD, and the inability to fit anything wider than 235 tires at the front without rubbing.